


Out of the Woods

by DeceitfulHonesty



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: AU, Camping, F/F, Lost in the Woods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-06 21:18:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6770263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeceitfulHonesty/pseuds/DeceitfulHonesty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the prompt “okay I know that being in the woods at 2am is a weird thing to be doing but my friend called me and- wait, why are you in the woods at 2am, fuck I’m going to die aren’t I?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out of the Woods

Jemma grumbled under her breath, cursing her friends as she tripped over another root. Sure, the rest of the biology department was probably right. It probably would be ‘more fun’ to go out and get drunk on a Friday night than to traipse through the woods looking for a rare fungus. 

Jemma didn’t go to college to have fun, though. She went to learn. And if the only way to learn about this particular species was to go on a hike alone at two in the morning than so be it. 

That didn’t mean every rustle of leaves or snapping twig didn’t make her flinch, though. She added Bobbi’s name to the list of people she was mentally cursing for making her watch Friday the 13th last week. 

Still, armed with bear spray, a head lamp, and a few pieces of lab equipment, Jemma trekked on. The full moon lit some parts of the path ahead, but the canopy of trees above her was so thick, Jemma could hardly see where she was walking. She had to keep the light off while searching since the fascinating thing about this fungus was that it had a slight bioluminescence during certain phases of its life cycle. If Jemma’s calculations were correct (and they typically were), this would be the perfect environment and time of year to find the organism. 

If only she could find it. 

A slight buzz from her pocket made Jemma pause to tug out her phone. Wonderful. It was telling her she had 1% battery left. Given that her phone had the GPS on it that would guide her out of the woods, she probably should turn back now. She had already made it this far. It would probably die before she reached the car anyway.

Jemma tucked the phone back into her pocket and adjusted the bag slung across her back before setting off again. She swore she saw a faint glow a few yards off the path, so she turned in that direction and picked her way through the overgrowth. 

Bingo. Growing across the top of a fallen tree a few feet ahead was a trail of tiny mushrooms, glowing faintly blue. 

Jemma hastily threw the bag on the ground beside the tree, clicked the light on her headlamp on, and dug through the bag to extract her tools. She tugged out the blue bags (B is for Blue is for Biological, Bobbi) and a sharp knife and crouched closer to the tree. 

Unfortunately, the university wouldn’t let her take good tools out of the lab, so Jemma had to make do with a large kitchen knife that she swiped from the communal kitchen at the dorms. Honestly, this fungus would probably be the least toxic thing the knife had been through, knowing her dormmates’ cooking habits, so Jemma didn’t feel too bad about it. 

Jemma prodded one of the mushrooms with the tip of the knife. It immediately started oozing a dark reddish liquid. 

“Fascinating,” Jemma muttered to herself. She made a mental note to write that down in her lab notes once she was somewhere with an actual light source. 

Ignoring the strange liquid, Jemma started scraping the tiny mushrooms into the bag, making sure they weren’t damaging each other. 

Jemma was too engrossed in her current project to notice anything around her until she heard a metallic click from somewhere behind her. She turned slowly only to come face-to-face with a large rifle. 

“Oh my god!”

Sudden movements were probably not the best idea in this situation, but Jemma leapt to her feet anyway throwing her hands above her head. 

“Please don’t shoot me,” Jemma squeaked. This is not how she expected to die. 

The figure holding the gun stepped closer so they were illuminated by Jemma’s headlamp and clicked on their own flashlight. Thankfully, the person wasn’t a grotesque, mask wearing psycho or overall-clad man with too few teeth like Jemma had expected. 

It was a girl. She appeared to be about Jemma’s age and had short brown hair that curled around her scowling face. Even if she wasn’t holding a very large gun, she looked like she could kick Jemma’s ass. The girl’s eyes flitted to Jemma’s hand and narrowed as she adjusted her hold on the gun. 

“You have five seconds to explain _that_ ,” she demanded, gesturing to Jemma’s hand. Jemma followed her gaze to the knife still clutched in her hands that she had been using to pop mushrooms off the tree. The knife that was very large and now dripping a dark, blood-red liquid. 

Jemma’s eyes widened. “Th-this is not what it— just a complete misunderstanding. I—” Jemma dropped the knife and snatched the blue plastic bag off the ground and held it in front of herself in defense. “Mushrooms!”

The girl only cocked an eyebrow in confusion. Jemma gulped. She was going to get shot in the woods and no one would find her body. 

Time to try again. “I-I’m a biology student and I was trying to collect some samples of this fungus that you can only find at a certain time of year and, unbeknownst to me, it produces this strange substance when threatened that looks an awful lot like blood. Isn’t that strange?” Jemma rambled, forcing an awkward laugh when she realized the girl didn’t care. 

The silence between the two was permeated by the occasional cricket chirp or hoot of an owl as neither girl moved. 

“Mushrooms?” the girl asked with a snort. Jemma wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but she allowed herself to relax slightly when the gun lowered. “You needed to get mushrooms at two in the morning in the woods? And can you turn that thing off? You’re blinding me.” The girl gestured to Jemma’s headlamp. 

“Well, this is when they’re best visible,” Jemma muttered, tugging the lamp off her forehead and pointing it at the ground.   

The girl chuckled. “It’s not exactly the safest time of day to go mushroom hunting. The woods can be dangerous this late at night.”

Jemma hoped she was imagining the mischievous glint in the girl’s eyes at the statement. “Says someone else who is in the woods at two in the morning,” Jemma challenged.

“I’m camping. It’s perfectly justified. Plus, I’m armed,” the girl replied, gesturing to the rifle. “You probably should head back to your campsite, too.”

“I’m not really camping, I just need to get back to my car. Which is over…” Jemma trailed off as she peered around the trees. Everything looked the same at this hour and in the commotion with the gun, she had gotten completely turned around. 

“Oh my god, you got lost, too?” the girl asked in disbelief. 

Jemma’s mind raced back to all those ‘stranger danger’ classes.  “No! I just need to walk...that way, I think, for five miles.”

The girl just blinked at her and sighed deeply. “Come on, you can crash on my couch until the sun comes up.”

“I really shouldn’t. My, uh, boyfriend is going to be worried if I don’t get back soon,” Jemma lied. 

“He’ll be really worried if you get completely lost by wandering around the woods all night. Really, it’s no big deal,” the girl insisted. 

“I don’t even know your name.”

“Daisy,” she responded and started walking, waving over her shoulder for Jemma to follow. 

“Jemma.” At least she had name to put with her potential murderer’s face. Not that it would do her any good. And of course, as Jemma stepped over a patch of wild daisies, she realized it could be a fake name. “So, Daisy. How did you know I was out here?”

“The perimeter alarm went off.”

“You have an alarm when you’re camping?” Jemma asked. Before Daisy could respond, Jemma noticed a large log cabin loom in front of them. A small, wooden sign was staked next to the path leading to the door that read ‘The Retreat. No Trespassing.’

“Dad’s a bit paranoid,” Daisy replied with a small smile. “And it’s not real camping.”

The cabin looked homey enough. Wasn’t there a horror movie called Cabin in the Woods, though? Or five different horror movies that took place in cabins in the woods? 

She didn’t have time to think too much about how cliche the situation was before Daisy was pushing through the door. It was either follow her inside or run away and sleep on the ground until the sun came up. Jemma caught a glimpse of a squishy-looking sofa through the door that Daisy held open and made her decision. 

Jemma followed Daisy’s lead as she kicked her shoes off in the walkway. Daisy unloaded her gun, propped it up in a small closet, and padded into the small kitchen area. 

The cabin wasn’t large, but it seemed comfortable. The furniture was well-worn, but not enough to look ragged. A spacious fireplace was positioned across from the couch, which was covered in mismatched throw pillows. Behind the couch was a door that Jemma could see led to a small bedroom. 

The largest room in the cabin appeared to be the kitchen, where Daisy was currently shuffling around. Jemma agreed that this couldn’t be considered ‘real camping’ by any standards. The full-sized oven and fridge, along with the microwave and toaster removed any lingering sense of ‘roughing it.’ 

“Hot chocolate?” Daisy offered.

“What’s in it?” Jemma blurted. She was still a little paranoid about this whole situation. 

Daisy cocked an eyebrow at her. “Um, hot chocolate mix, milk. I can put some schnapps in, if you’d like.”

“Oh. No thank you to the schnapps.”

Daisy shrugged a ‘suit yourself’ gesture and poured a generous shot of schnapps into one of the mugs. Once she was finished stirring, she slid the other mug across the counter to Jemma and sipped on her own. 

“This place has electricity and decent cell service if you need to call your boyfriend and let him know you’re alive,” Daisy offered. 

“My what? I don’t have a boy— oh,” Jemma replied, temporarily forgetting her lie from before. “I don’t have a boyfriend. I just said that because I thought you were going to kill me.” 

Daisy choked on her hot chocolate and started laughing. “You thought _I_ was going to kill you? You’re the one who was crouching in front of my cabin with a blood-covered knife!”

“You had a gun!” Jemma accused. “And I obviously did not realize how the situation looked from a distance.”

They stared at each other in silence for a brief moment before dissolving into raucous laughter at the whole situation. Daisy had to brace herself against the counter to keep from collapsing and Jemma was trying her hardest not to spill her hot chocolate all over the floor, all her paranoia and tension melting away with each passing second. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, never have I ever...watched Game of Thrones,” Jemma announced, eyes flicking over to the ‘Mother of Dragons’ bobblehead perched on the corner of the desk.

Daisy gaped and curled down one finger on her raised hand. “How? It’s only the best show on TV!”

“It has dragons,” Jemma replied with an eye roll. “Where’s the realism?”

Daisy snorted. “Oh right, I forgot the only movies you watch are nature documentaries.”

“Not true!”

“Oh yeah? What’s the last movie you watched?” Daisy challenged, sipping on her spiked hot chocolate.

Jemma opened her mouth to respond, but clamped it shut when she remembered the last five movies she had watched on Netflix were documentaries. 

“Never mind, it’s not important,” she grumbled. “Your turn. I’m four turns away from winning.”

Daisy barked out a laugh. “You wish. Never have I ever been to France.”

“That’s not fair! You know, when you live in England, going to France is the equivalent driving to the nearest state for holiday,” Jemma protested. 

“I did not know that. I assume you _have_ been to France?” Daisy responded with false innocence in her voice. 

Jemma glared at her as she bent a finger down, but a smile teased at her lips. They had been playing this game for hours, since between rounds they typically stopped to tell a story or tease the other for their response. They were so engrossed that they barely noticed the sun peeking over the horizon, but when they did, they elected to ignore it for a bit longer. Jemma was somewhat thankful that she didn’t do a ton of crazy stuff, since it meant she won ‘Never Have I Ever’ almost every time. 

“Alright, if we’re going to play that way: Never have I ever pulled a gun on a stranger in the forest,” Jemma countered. 

Daisy mock winced. “Oh, low blow. Do I have to put down a finger for each time I’ve done it?”

“I sincerely hope you’re joking.”

Daisy’s smirk was her only reply. At some point, after their second mug of hot chocolate, Daisy convinced Jemma that a bit of peppermint schnapps made it ‘a billion times better’ so Jemma was feeling the warm buzz of a few mugs of that in her stomach, giving her an extra boost of bravery.

“Never have I ever actually shot someone,” Daisy countered. 

Jemma winced and curled another finger down.

“No way!” Daisy lurched out of her reclined position on the other end of the worn sofa and scooted right next to Jemma with her legs crossed, looking simultaneously appalled and amused. 

“Did they die? Did you go to jail? Or did you hide the body somewhere? Who was it?” Daisy rambled. 

“No, no one died. It was one of the rangers at my internship and it was a bear tranquilizer, so no one got hurt,” Jemma grumbled. “Although, he did spend quite a few days in the medical ward…”

“Why did— I don’t even know where to start.”

Jemma rolled her eyes. No normal person should be so excited when they found out that the stranger they met in the woods shot someone. “I did an internship with a conservation group a few years ago. We were supposed to tranquilize and relocate this grizzly bear and, for some reason, they thought I should be the one with the gun. Unfortunately for Sitwell, no one had ever trained me on how to use it and I sort of…missed.” 

Daisy was silent for a moment before she bursted out laughing. Normally, Jemma wasn’t a fan of people laughing at that story. The incident had involved many hours of lectures and filling out reports, which led to Jemma politely being asked not to return the following year. 

It was something of a sore spot, but Jemma found that when Daisy was laughing at it, it didn’t bother her so much. Daisy was practically wheezing, and leaned onto Jemma’s shoulder to support herself. Every time her laughing fit would wind down, she would peer up at Jemma’s miffed expression and burst out again. 

“Are you quite finished?” Jemma quipped. “I believe it’s my turn.”

Daisy finally composed herself, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes and nodded for Jemma to go ahead. 

Jemma pondered for a moment on her next response. “Never have I ever been to Disney World.”

Daisy slapped a hand over her chest and feigned a heartbroken look while she put a finger down.

“Never have I ever been skiing.”

Jemma put a finger down. 

Daisy had shuffled even closer during her laughing fit. Now, Jemma couldn’t tell if the warmth she was feeling was coming from the schnapps in her system or something else entirely. 

“Never have I ever kissed a girl,” Jemma blurted, before her brain could even process the statement. 

Daisy raised an eyebrow, but put her last finger down. “You’re missing out, then,” she muttered with a wink. 

“It’s not that I haven’t wanted to. I’ve just never had occasion,” Jemma explained, though she didn’t know why she felt the need to explain herself. 

“Bummer,” Daisy replied with a smirk. “Well, I’m out. You win. What should we do now?”

Jemma had a few ideas. Before she could voice any of them, a high-pitched chirping from near the front door drew their attention. Daisy sobered up and hopped off the couch. 

“What’s that?” Jemma asked. 

“Perimeter alarm,” Daisy grumbled. She strode over and wrenched open the door of the closet and pulled out her gun. “Wait here a sec.”

“Is that really necessary?”

Daisy shrugged. “You never know what kind of crazies will come out here.”

Daisy marched out the front door, paused to listen for a moment, and then picked a direction to march off in. 

Like hell was Jemma waiting in the cabin. She tugged on her shoes and jogged in the direction Daisy had headed. She could hear distant voices grumbling and clumsily crashing through the trees. 

Suddenly, a high-pitched shriek pierced the silence of the forest, followed by muttered curses from a different voice. Jemma jogged faster, because she recognized that shriek.

“Fitz?” she called. 

“Jemma?!” a tense reply called back. 

Jemma pushed through a patch of tall weeds to find Fitz and Bobbi frozen with their hands in the air while Daisy pointed the gun at both of them. 

“You know her?”

“You know them?”

Everyone shouted at Jemma at once. Jemma rolled her eyes. 

“Daisy, for God’s sake put the gun down. Fitz, Bobbi, you can relax. It’s not even loaded,” Jemma instructed. 

Daisy grumbled something about ‘ruining the effect,’ but obeyed and rested the butt of the rifle on the ground and leaned against it, still frowning in Fitz’s and Bobbi’s direction. 

Fitz’s eyes kept flicking to Daisy as he spoke to Jemma. “What the hell happened? Bobbi said you told her you’d be back by midnight and I called you and your phone went straight to voicemail and I thought you died for a pile of mushrooms or got kidnapped by a—”

His eyes lingered on Daisy, who narrowed hers in response, as he trailed off. 

“My phone died while I was in the middle of the woods and Daisy offered to let me stay in her cabin until the sun came up,” Jemma explained. 

“Did she point a gun at you, too?” Fitz whispered. 

“Well, yes, but—” 

“And you still thought it was a good idea to go to her cabin?!”

“Fitz, it was—”

“You know I’m right here and can hear everything you’re saying, right?” Daisy interrupted. 

Fitz sputtered some apology and looked at the ground. Bobbi rolled her eyes and stepped forward. 

“I feel like we all got off on the wrong foot. No one’s dead. No one’s lost. How about we got get some breakfast?” Bobbi suggested. _Thank god for Bobbi’s diplomacy skills_ , Jemma thought. 

Fitz looked like he was about to protest inviting the woman who just had a gun pointed at them to breakfast, but Bobbi had a welcoming smile plastered on her face. 

Jemma glanced over to Daisy who stared back at her. 

“I could do breakfast.”

**Author's Note:**

> I ended up a bit off prompt for this one but oh well ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Enjoy anyway!


End file.
